From the original fortress to the present day
Radešín Castle has been closely tied to the Cistercian monastery in Žďár nad Sázavou since its beginnings and for most of its long existence. It was founded in the second half of the 13th century as a monastic farmstead - a so-called ‘grange’, based on the Cistercian economic principle aimed at agricultural cultivation of barren lands and creating functioning economic districts on them. Remnants of the oldest medieval buildings are preserved in the basement of the main tower building, but without archaeological surveys, we cannot date them more precisely for now. Until the end of the 16th century, various holders from the ranks of minor nobility, who paid monetary dues to the Žďár monastery, alternated in Radešín. At that time, the present-day castle had the form of a late-medieval fortress: an area enclosed by a stone wall, with its central object being an isolated small-scale building surrounded by separate fortifications. This building served as the administrative seat of the farmstead and also had a defensive function.
In 1597, the estate was purchased by Samuel Radešínský, who acquired it as hereditary property. One of the reasons Radešín was transferred to Samuel Radešínský was his background and legal education, in which he achieved the title of Doctor of Both Laws. At that time, numerous disputes heavily burdened the monastery, and the superiors needed a reliable legal representative. He transformed the original medieval fortress into a two-story Renaissance residence of a representative character, demonstrating a higher culture of living. He was also the builder of the Renaissance castle brewery (the northern building) and the stables on the northern side of the courtyard.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the most important construction phase in the history of the castle began. Abbot Václav Vejmluva of the Žďár monastery had the Renaissance residence of Samuel Radešínský rebuilt between 1706 and 1710. He modified its layout, added a floor, and gave it a new facade. He connected the residence building (the main tower building) and the castle brewery (the northern building) with a new central longitudinal Baroque residential wing. The living spaces were decorated with stucco and lavishly furnished. A monumental marble portal was installed at the main entrance to the residence. The extensive Baroque reconstruction was carried out by Jan Blažej Santini-Aichl, and the reconstruction of the Radešín estate was probably his first project in the service of the Žďár abbot. Although Santini’s authorship is not directly documented (as with many other buildings attributed to him), the attribution is credibly based on the comparison of many architectural details and the new dating of the Baroque reconstruction based on dendrochronological surveys. In Radešín, a representative abbot’s residence and an economic administration center for the entire domain were thus created. A burgrave was stationed in Radešín to carry out this administration. The castle, brewery, and farmyard in Radešín formed a closed residential-economic complex, which also had recreational functions, serving the Cistercian abbots as a summer house (“Lufthaus”), a country castle used for entertainment and relaxation, not inhabited year-round by its owner.
After the abolition of the monastery in Žďár nad Sázavou by Emperor Joseph II, the castle was purchased in 1826 by a new owner - the Liechtenstein economic councilor František Schneider from Brno. He initiated a rather extensive Classicist reconstruction of the castle. The original Renaissance castle brewery was converted into an administrative house (“Amtshaus”), where the offices of the patrimonial office and the apartments of the officials were located. He connected all the buildings into one front and unified their facade on the eastern frontage. A covered glass balcony with a quarter-circle floor plan, supported by a stone column, was inserted at the corner between the main tower building and the transverse wing. He also modified the surroundings of the castle - he established a castle park around the pond in front of the eastern frontage, thus laying the foundation for the new urban arrangement of the village. In the 1860s, a theater was established on the second floor of the main tower building.
The entire castle complex thus consists of two significant parts: the first is the main tower building and the adjacent central longitudinal residential wing, Baroque buildings from 1706 - 1710, representing the architectural work of Jan Blažej Santini-Aichl. The second part consists of the Renaissance brewery building with adjacent farm buildings from the late 16th century, with preserved sgraffito on the exterior facades, modified in the first third of the 19th century.
After the end of World War II, the castle was confiscated from its last owners - members of the Duré family (descendants of the Schneider family) - and assigned to the Czechoslovak State Farms. Until the end of the 1980s, the buildings were used by the State Farm based in Křižanov. The farm buildings were used for housing livestock, and the barn and sheds as storage. The residential buildings were very insensitively adapted, degrading historical elements, and converted into apartments. The condition of the unused and unsecured complex further deteriorated significantly during the 1990s.
Before the arrival of the current owners, the property, which had been uninhabited and unmaintained for over twenty years, was in a completely dilapidated state. Due to long-term water infiltration, the roof structures were extensively damaged by wood-destroying fungi, the roof and ceiling structures were severely compromised, window panes were missing, the facades of the buildings were heavily damaged, and the entire complex was significantly devalued by inappropriate modern interventions from the 20th century.
Since 2005, Radešín Castle has been owned by the Kubíček family. In renovating the castle, they focus on preserving its 19th-century appearance and maintaining the original fragments of the building. They use original methods and items that were actually used or made in past centuries.
After repairing the roof of the tower building, in recent years they have focused on work related to reducing the moisture in the exterior walls.
The main goal of the Kubíček family in the coming period is to complete the repair of the roofs and facades of the castle and gradually all the interiors for the needs of the ballooning center.
